Oil prices moved slightly higher on Thursday after Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s oil infrastructure signaled potential supply constraints.
Anton Petrus | Moment | Getty Images
Oil prices moved slightly higher Thursday after Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s oil infrastructure signaled potential supply constraints, and stalled peace talks tempered expectations of a deal restoring Russian oil flows to global markets, though weak fundamentals kept gains limited.
Brent crude rose 14 cents, or 0.22%, to $62.81 by 0102 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate rose 16 cents, or 0.27%, to $59.11.
Ukraine hit the Druzhba oil pipeline in Russia’s central Tambov region, a Ukrainian military intelligence source said on Wednesday, the fifth attack on the pipeline that sends Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia. The pipeline operator and Hungary’s oil and gas company later said supplies were moving through the pipeline as normal.
The perception that progress on a peace plan for Ukraine was stalling also supported prices, after U.S. President Donald Trump’s representatives emerged from peace talks with the Kremlin with no specific breakthroughs on ending the war. Trump said it was unclear what happens now.
Previously, expectations of an end to the war had pressured prices lower, as traders anticipated a deal would involve ending sanctions on Russia and allow Russian oil back into an already oversupplied global market.
“Despite the uptick, concerns about an oversupply glut and soft demand continue to weigh on crude oil prices,” IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said in a note.
Fitch Ratings on Thursday cut its 2025-2027 oil price assumptions to reflect market oversupply and production growth that is expected to outstrip demand.
